March 24, 2025
JAKARTA – Closed-door deliberations that have become commonplace in bypassing public participation during the legislative process have raised concerns over democratic backsliding in the country, particularly in relation to the revised 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law passed on March 20.
The TNI Law revision has sparked worry among both activists and the general public, as it allows for the military’s expanded role in civilian institutions and noncombat operations, undermining civilian supremacy.
The process of revising the law, which took just one month from the date President Prabowo Subianto sent a letter urging the House of Representatives to commence deliberations until its passage, was also marred by a series of unscheduled closed-door meetings between lawmakers and government officials for the purpose of expediting the legislation.
Human rights activists from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) stormed the session at a luxury Jakarta hotel, calling on lawmakers to halt deliberations. They were then forcibly removed from the hotel by security guards, who later reported the Kontras members to police on allegations of disturbing public order.
“The main criticism comes from the flawed procedure that undermines civil participation, let alone the substance,” Almas Sjafrina, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), said on Wednesday at a panel discussion in Jakarta.
Read also: Protests break out as House passes TNI bill
The TNI Law revision was not the first to be deliberated in closed-door meetings at an external venue instead of the legislative complex in Senayan, Jakarta.
In 2020, lawmakers held closed-door meetings with labor union representatives at a hotel to deliberate the omnibus bill on job creation, reportedly to discuss several contentious articles.
Legislators also held meetings closed to the public over one weekend in September 2019 to finalize a draft revision of the Criminal Code, claiming that public participation was not pertinent in addressing editorial issues such as “the placement of periods and commas”.
This unregulated, widespread practice in making the country’s laws could lead to corruption and further undermine civil liberties and participation, said Robert Na Endi Jaweng, a commissioner at the Indonesian Ombudsman.
“[Some of] our public policy practices are nonparticipatory. That is why it’s important to raise our voice to demand accountability from the government,” Robert said at Wednesday’s discussion.
‘Flawed democracy’
Democratic backsliding has been worsening in the country in recent years, as indicated by Indonesia’s ranking in the Democracy Index 2024 of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), based in London.
The latest index, published on March 5, ranks Indonesia 59th out of 167 surveyed countries, three spots worse than its ranking of 56th in the 2023 index. It scored 6.44 out of a possible 10 this year, dropping slightly from 6.53 the previous year, and falls in the category of “flawed democracy”.
The index is based on experts’ assesments and public opinion surveys in five different areas: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
Among the concerning aspects in this year’s index is civil liberties, in which the country scored 5.29, indicating that it has not improved in this area since the index was launched in 2006.
Titi Anggraini, a law expert from the University of Indonesia, expressed regret that most citizens had been unable to fully or meaningfully participate in the lawmaking process over the nearly three decades since the fall of Soeharto’s New Order regime in 1998.
“It is necessary for the media, universities and civic groups to intensify public activism so people can advocate for a better [legislative] process,” she said.
Presidential spokesperson Philips Vermonte acknowledged Indonesia’s current democracy index ranking as well as its scores in the five aspects surveyed.
“However, the EIU’s Democracy Index only captured the previous administration, not Prabowo’s. It has been only five months since the President took office, so we’ll see what happens next,” Philips told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
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He also asserted the Prabowo administration’s commitment to protecting and guaranteeing civil liberties.
“These days, we have seen numerous protests […] and the government has accommodated and heard [the demands]. This means civil liberties are still guaranteed,” he said.